PS official to plead not guilty, lawyer says
SHIPBUILDING LEAK
OTTAWA • The second public official accused of leaking cabinet secrets about a $700-million naval contract intends to fight the charge, according to his lawyer. The assertion by Matthew Matchett’s lawyer was made on Tuesday during a brief court hearing, the first since the suspended Public Service and Procurement Canada official was charged with one count of breach of trust last month.
Lawyer Matthew Day told the court that his client, who did not appear in person, plans to plead not guilty and seek a jury trial as the case, which is expected to have many parallels to Norman’s, moves through the system. Matchett is the second person after Vice-Admiral Mark Norman, the military’s former second-in-command, accused of leaking information about the contract between the federal government and Davie Shipbuilding in Quebec.
The contract, negotiated by Stephen Harper’s government and finalized by Justin Trudeau’s new government in 2015, involved leasing a converted civilian ship to the navy as a temporary support vessel.
Norman has denied any wrongdoing. The court has so far heard several days of pre-trial arguments as Norman’s lawyers fight for access to thousands of government documents related to the case. A formal trial is scheduled to begin in August. Day told the court that he had received a “voluminous” amount of documents from the Crown that would need to be reviewed. Speaking to reporters afterward, Day said many of the documents contained redactions and that he may have to follow Norman’s lawyers in seeking more information from the Crown and government.
At the same time, he said the results of that legal fight, which is scheduled to resume Wednesday, could affect what other documents are freely provided to his client. RCMP investigators had previously indicated in court filings that they believed two government officials, acting independently of each other, had leaked government secrets in November 2015. Court filings from Norman’s team in October identified the second person as Matchett, who worked at the time at the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency. He later moved to Public Services and Procurement Canada. None of the documents or witness statements has been entered as evidence or tested in court. The charges against Matchett and Norman have also not been tested in court.